


Et si tu viendrais?

by cambria



Series: Cambria's Holiday Specials 2018 [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Post-Brotherhood, kind of, sister fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 11:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17161151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cambria/pseuds/cambria
Summary: Post-Brotherhood fic where everyone likes to get together at Gracia's for the holidays/end of year/winter solstice (pick and excuse) and the Elric brothers are finally in the same country. OC-centric, kind of a sister fic to L'alchimiste et L'apothicaire but not really.





	Et si tu viendrais?

The snow crunches under my feet. The sun set a while ago, and the few streetlamps dotted along the street paint everything in different shades of yellow and orange. The bags in my hands are heavy and laden with snacks and several bottles of wine. Good thing I don't have much longer to walk. My feet are killing me and I can barely feel my toes.

A door opens a few yards ahead of me, warm light spilling onto the front porch. Schiezka's head pokes out, and the rest of her follows once she sees me. She waves broadly and eagerly takes the bags away from me one I make it to the door.

"It's so good to see you! Come on, everyone else is dying to see you too," Schiezka says, pulling my coat off and getting my to toss my boots to the side faster than I can register. I'm shoved into a sitting room full of people and a glass of _something_  is given to me. A quick smell test reveals that it's definitely spiked. And not just a little.

I'm quickly swept up into the arms of Major Armstrong, who is clearly too happy to see me. When I'm dropped back onto the ground, I'm greeted by the rest of Mustang's team, as well as Gracia, the slow-growing-bigger Elicia, and finally, Winry. I can't help but stand awkwardly in front of her, fiddling with the glass of spiked punch in my hands.

"...it's good to see you, Anna," Winry says warmly, reaching out to put a hand on my shoulder. Whatever guilt I carried about not giving her a call the past few months feels like it melts away under her touch.

"It's... I'm sorry I didn't call," I say, doing my best to not avert my eyes. "Guess I got too wrapped up in my own problems."

Her mood seems to lift almost instantly. "Hey! Don't worry about it! You showed up, right? No big deal! Come on, I've been working on this new design, but I'm not sure yet if I can make the whole this less invasive..."

Winry rambles on as she drags me by the hand deeper into the Hughes' household. When I turn to wave apologetically at Gracia, she barely has time to cover her knowing look with a wave of her fingers. Elicia, though, completely fails to hide her conspiratorial grin.

When I turn back to Winry, she's still going on about surgery. She drags me up to the second floor, claiming that she's got a few drawings and schematics up here that I can take a look at. But when she opens the door to the study, it's not a blueprint or a box of tools that's waiting for me.

"Wi-Winry, what's—"

The mechanic spins around, hem of her dress fluttering just this side of decently, and leans in to whisper to me.

"You're both idiots. Talk it out." Pats my head, flashes me a prideful grin, and shuts the door behind her.

When I turn back to Edward, his face seems to mirror the shock on mine. I'm starting to regret choosing to wear a red dress. It felt kind of meaningful and nice before I left the apartment, but now...

"You, uh. You look good," Edward manages to breathe out, nervously scratching the back of his head and determinedly looking at everything but me.

"Um. I—thanks. Thank you?" I clear my throat and take a few steps forward. "I'm surprised you're not wearing something super tacky."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Ah, there you go." Try my best at a smile, even though my heart feels like it's about to escape through my throat. "Finally got you to look at me."

Edward has the decency to look caught in the act, before moving over to the window on the far wall and sitting on the sill. Vaguely... gestures me to follow him?

So I do.  
There's only a few inches between us when I sit next to him.

"Heard you made it to Lieutenant Colonel."

"That's—it's just for research, it's not like it actually means anything and I don't even know why they even bother to promote me at all I mean with what happened in the spring I—"

"Hey, calm down!" Edward laughs and puts a hand on my shoulder. It takes me a second to register that it isn't metal. "It's not like I have to call you Ma'am now, right?"

I can't help but snort at the idea. "Absolutely not." Fiddle with the glass of punch in my hands before taking a sip and looking out the window. The snowflakes are large and heavy, but watching them fall is almost relaxing. Ed's hand slides from my shoulder to my exposed upper arm. The warmth of it is almost startling. "Whe—" My voice falters. Clear my throat before turning back to look at Edward. "Where's Al? I didn't see him downstairs. Not before I got dragged up here, anyways."

Ed's hand drops to the knee he's got propped up on the sill and chuckles. "Yeah, he's been in the kitchen with Gracia since we got here. She tried to chase him out of there five times before she gave up and let him help."

"That sounds about right."

There's a comfortable silence after that. I go back to staring at the falling snow and keep sipping at the glass of punch. It's not nearly enough to get me anywhere close to drunk, but there's a warm feeling settling in my chest. Ed leans his head against the window. It isn't until I turn back to look at him that I notice that he's.

He's just staring. Openly. With an expression on his face I can't read.

I go to down the rest of the punch when I realize me glass is empty. Ed slowly takes it out of my hands and puts it on a small desk somewhere behind him.

"We're taking the first train out in the morning," he says cautiously, but doesn't stop staring at me. I swallow thickly; all this staring is making me nervous. I nod. "Al's going back out east." I nod again. "You should come with me." I nod.

"Wait." I sit up straight, before standing. "Go with you? Where?"

Edward wring his hands in his lap. "West," he starts, finally turning away to look out the window again. "Past Drachma and Creta."

"West. What about—I have the military here and..." The excuse falls short and I can't complete it. Ed scoffs and stands in front of me. When did he get so tall? I need to actually look up at him now.

"You only got in the military for the books, we both know that," Ed says smoothly, and I realize he's maybe a little too close. "You were forced to stay. To you really need to be there anymore?"

"No." My answer is whispered and comes out without thought.

Ed opens his mouth to speak when everyone erupts in cheers downstairs. Amid the various calls and cries, I think Mustang's just arrived. I don't even think about it before moving for the door, but a hand on my elbow stops me.

Ed seems to struggle for something to say for a second. "...red looks good on you."

I can't help the fire that rises to my cheeks. He slowly pulls me forward—when did his hand land on my other arm?—until he's got his arms wrapped around me, head buried in my hair.

"R&D paperwork is going to be hell," I mutter, lifting my arms to rest my hands on his shoulder blades.

"I know," he mutters back, into my hair.

"Mustang's probably going to laugh at me a lot."

"I know."

Bury my face into his neck. "You're horrible. You didn't even call."

"I know," he said, chuckles against me. "Neither did you."

Choke on my laughter.

"Fine. I'll go with you. Can't keep yourself out of trouble for more than five minutes anyways."

When I walk back down to the rest of the crowd, Edward follows closely behind me. Roy greets me warmly, with a hug that's maybe a second too long—is he seriously trying to annoy Ed?—and before he pulls away, whispers in my ear.

"Don't worry about the red tape. I've got it."

When he pulls away, he pats my shoulder and walks past me to wrap an arm around ed's neck and drag him away. I stand at the bottom of the stairs, dumbfounded, before turning around to the rest of the room.

Which is when I get a facefull of both Winry and Schiezka, and another glass of punch shoved into my hands.

"You're going, _riiiight_?" Schiezka asks, and maybe she's had too much to drink for one night.

"Of course she is! Right?"

Before I can answer, Alphonse emerges from the depths of the kitchen to announce that the food is—finally—ready. The horde of starving guests make their way to the dining room, especially decked out to accommodate the amount of people in attendance, which thankfully is enough to pry Winry and Schiezka off of me. Alphonse makes his way over to me, and there's something warm-feeling about how he's using his one remaining crutch less and less.

"Merry Christmas, Anna," he says warmly. Extends an arm, and I accept his offer of a one-arm hug with an arm of my own. When I step back, he's beaming at me. "So I guess we're both leaving early tomorrow?"

"Both... wait, you—how did—"

"Brother's terrible at keeping secrets," Al laughs, putting an arm around my shoulders and guiding me into the dining room. "He's been talking my ear off about asking you to go west with him for weeks."

"For weeks..." I repeat dumbly, taking a deep breath before chugging the class of punch. "He could've called."

Another peal of laughter.

Predictably, I'm sat next to Edward.  
It doesn't take five minutes into dinner to feel his fingers lace through mine.

Guess I'm packing in the morning.


End file.
